LIVE! With Regis & Kelly at the Atlantis Resort

During the week of February 25th, the television program “LIVE! With Regis & Kelly” was broadcast from the Atlantis Resort.

This was the second time that the program had visited the Atlantis and the second time that Buena Vista Television, the production company for the show, called on Stuart Cove’s to assist them with broadcasting.

You never know what is going to happen the first time somebody enters the water to go diving. As instructors, we are even more nervous when it is a television personality that is doing it for their job instead of really wanting to try it as part of their vacation. This thought led up to our first “marine” segment involving host Kelly Ripa, who was going to do her first resort course offshore from the Atlantis resort.

Well those fears were completely unfounded. Kelly literally jumped into scuba diving and disappeared under the surface for over 40 minutes completely enjoying the new environment. When she surfaced she was ecstatic, and we relaxed knowing that this is one celebrity who’s zest for life and fun is just as true off screen as it is on!

Now, we only hope that Regis will give her some time off so that she can become a certified diver while vacationing with her husband.

A second fun shoot for LIVE! was to work with Ethan Zohn – the winner of Survivor Africa. However, before he went on-air to chat with Regis & Kelly, Michael Gelman the shows producer wanted to film his impressions of “surviving Atlantis” for a day.

To do this, Claudia from Stuart Cove’s Fin Photo taught him to shoot our underwater video camera and they toured the property having fun.  According to Claudia – the best part was going down the “Leap of Faith” water slide that takes you through the middle of the shark tank”.

Later, we found out that for Ethan, the best part was finally meeting Regis & Kelly. “I’m excited about Regis & Kelly. I love Regis & Kelly. When I was younger, I used to pretend to be sick so I could watch Regis & Kathy Lee.”

The third segment we shot was when the producer Michael Gelman and Michelle Lui, the director of aquariums at Atlantis went diving in “The Digs” tank at the resort.  The dive and filming went fine. But here’s where the blooper from this shoot happened… the segment was supposed to have “teasers” in conjunction with the interview. However, the producer forgot to do the “teasers” before they got out. Later, when putting the piece together for air the next day, they realized the mistake, and “dubbed” the sound over – by sticking their heads in the toilet bowl of their room and speaking into it for the echo while recording.

Three days of playing and shooting with the crew went by very fast. This is always a fun crew to shoot with, and it shows when you see the program as well. We can’t wait for their next visit – maybe then we will get Regis to try a SUB!